The ConVal-led lawsuit against the State and the New Hampshire Department of Education has transferred venues, from Cheshire County Superior Court to Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood.
The shift comes after a Superior Court order issued in July, and comes with the intention of keeping the case under the purview of Judge David Ruoff, who is now assigned to Rockingham County Superior Court.
The order states that Ruoff “has spent an extensive amount of time in the past 3 years familiarizing himself with the file in this matter,” and as such, keeping the case with him “is in the best interests of justice,” as well as a time-saving measure as the case moves forward on a trial track.
ConVal attorney Michael Tierney said that the shift will have no discernable impact on the case, given that plaintiffs in the case include school districts from all across the state.
“It’s really neutral,” he said of the venue change.
ConVal initially sued the state in 2019, arguing that the state was not fulfilling their constitutional obligation to fund an adequate education for students. They argue that base adequacy is not sufficient to fund an adequate education and falls short of funding services, positions and items that the state requires districts to provide. At the time of the suit’s filing, the base adequacy was $3,636 per student.
In March of this year, the New Hampshire Supreme Court remanded the case back to the Superior Court to allow for further testimony, a decision that ConVal and its co-plaintiffs celebrated as an opportunity to further make their case for more funding. This decision followed a 2019 Superior Court decision by Ruoff that the state was obligated to fund transportation and other costs and the legislature was supposed to fix the underfunding of education. This decision was reached too quickly, the Supreme Court ruled, and there should have been more opportunity for evidence entry and witness testimony.
The 16 co-plaintiff districts are spread out across the state, including two of the largest in the state: Manchester and Nashua. The other districts are Claremont, Derry Co-Operative, Fall Mountain, Grantham, Hillsboro-Deering, Mascenic, Mascoma Valley, Monadnock, Newport, Oyster River, and Winchester. This year, the plaintiffs account for almost one-quarter of New Hampshire’s public school students.
The trial is currently scheduled to begin Jan. 9, 2023.